Win 11 customization - facing minor niggles

[ShaQBlogs]

I have a licensed home version of NTLite and customized Win 11 Pro with quite a bit of changes and got it working as required.
However, i am facing some minor issues.

1. In Windows Settings, the internet status shows as Not Connected Offline (See image). However internet is connected and working. Looks like some kind of status update issue on the Settings app. I suspect it could be some component that I have removed.
2. I have turned off Windows updates. However windows update shows that it did check for updates (See image). During restart, it did show me a very brief message that updates are being applied. Why did it even check for updates when i had it turned off.

May I know how to resolve these issues? I have attached my preset for reference.



View attachment 13517View attachment 13518.

 

[garlin]

Network status is periodically checked by fetching a dummy text file from a MS CDN site. That's it. If network probing is disabled, or your attempt to fetch the file is blocked, then Windows simply assumes your network is "offline".

Make sure you don't have any post-install network tweaks or security changes that block access.
Network Connection Status Indicator (NCSI) troubleshooting guidance

During OOBE, W11 can download new updates regardless of your Windows Update setting. This is by design, it doesn't need Windows Update itself but the underlying infrastructure to install minor updates. When you reboot the first time after logging on, those OOBE-installed updates are reflected in the reboot notifications.

For the most part, these are minor updates. 24H2's OOBE on the other hand, will try to install a full Monthly Update if you're behind...

 

[ShaQBlogs]

Network status is periodically checked by fetching a dummy text file from a MS CDN site. That's it. If network probing is disabled, or your attempt to fetch the file is blocked, then Windows simply assumes your network is "offline". Make sure you don't have any post-install network tweaks or security changes that block access. Network Connection Status Indicator (NCSI) troubleshooting guidance During OOBE, W11 can download new updates regardless of your Windows Update setting. This is by design, it doesn't need Windows Update itself but the underlying infrastructure to install minor updates. When you reboot the first time after logging on, those OOBE-installed updates are reflected in the reboot notifications. For the most part, these are minor updates. 24H2's OOBE on the other hand, will try to install a full Monthly Update if you're behind...

Network status is periodically checked by fetching a dummy text file from a MS CDN site. That's it. If network probing is disabled, or your attempt to fetch the file is blocked, then Windows simply assumes your network is "offline".

Make sure you don't have any post-install network tweaks or security changes that block access.
Network Connection Status Indicator (NCSI) troubleshooting guidance

During OOBE, W11 can download new updates regardless of your Windows Update setting. This is by design, it doesn't need Windows Update itself but the underlying infrastructure to install minor updates. When you reboot the first time after logging on, those OOBE-installed updates are reflected in the reboot notifications.

For the most part, these are minor updates. 24H2's OOBE on the other hand, will try to install a full Monthly Update if you're behind...

Note: The issue of network status is now resolved. An option under Remoting and Privacy -> Diagnostics & Troubleshooting -> Network data usage Monitor driver -> Data usage service was removed.

Thanks Garlin for the link. I ran the checks and it looks like it is not related to NCSI. I am suspecting this to be related to the preset configuration selection. I don't think I have any post install network tweaks. Security change I am not sure.

Here is what I checked using the above link.
Network List Service (netprofm) service is up and running.
These are the test results from the above link.

Test 1:
The Network status icon shows as Full internet access over Ethernet. However, on hover it shows as No internet access + No connections available. This aligns with the issue seen on Windows settings as Not Connected.

Test 2:
NCIS browser test succeeds.

Test 3:
NCSI event logs shows as

Capability change on xxxxxxxxxxxxx Family: V4 Capability: Internet ChangeReason: ActiveHttpProbeSucceeded)

Test 4:
NCIS Settings in registry are matching. So no issues here.

Test 5:
Power shell command returns valid values.

PS C:\Users\ShaQ> Get-NetConnectionProfile

Name : Network
InterfaceAlias : Ethernet
InterfaceIndex : 3
NetworkCategory : Public
DomainAuthenticationKind : None
IPv4Connectivity : Internet
IPv6Connectivity : Internet

Test 6:
Unsure how to check this.

Test 7:
Registry value for MaxActiveProbes does not exist, hence unlimited.

Test 8:
Resolve-DnsName to dns.msftncsi.com returns

PS C:\Users\ShaQ> Resolve-DnsName -Name dns.msftncsi.com

Name Type TTL Section IPAddress
---- ---- --- ------- ---------
dns.msftncsi.com AAAA 1466 Answer fd3e:4f5a:5b81::1
dns.msftncsi.com A 29 Answer 131.107.255.255

 

[ShaQBlogs]

FYI, until I install drivers, I have no access to internet. Plus I tend to unplug ethernet during install. So the update above happens only after installation and first boot (usually few hours later and after multiple reboots).

During OOBE, W11 can download new updates regardless of your Windows Update setting. This is by design, it doesn't need Windows Update itself but the underlying infrastructure to install minor updates. When you reboot the first time after logging on, those OOBE-installed updates are reflected in the reboot notifications.

I am not sure if I understood you correctly.
Are you saying only very minor updates will be applied?

If I use NTLite to fetch windows updates and apply during install, it reflects version as 24H2 v22631.4602. Without the updates applied, the windows version is 24H2 v22631.4317.
Post installation, after the Windows update check, I observe that the system is still on 4317 (Not 4602). I expected this to bump up to 4602. Looks like the corresponding updates are not applied. Also update history is empty. But windows is informing it did check for updates.

This is very strange behavior.

For the most part, these are minor updates. 24H2's OOBE on the other hand, will try to install a full Monthly Update if you're behind...

Again, I am not sure if I understood you correctly.

Does this imply I cannot block windows from updating automatically? Will it eventually update to latest automatically?
More importantly, can a windows update override numerous settings / removed components that I applied via NTLite?